Search continues for missing Redding teen

A $100,000 felony arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for a Los Angeles man who hasn't been seen since Nov. 10 when his niece went missing from her Redding home.

Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, is wanted for detainment or concealment of a child from the legal custodian, said Shasta County Sheriff's Sgt. John Hubbard.

Berlinghoff's niece, Jean Berlinghoff, 15, of Redding, was last seen at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Hubbard said the difference between detainment or concealment of a child and kidnapping is the use of force or threats.

?It does show that maliciously he has kept this child from their parent,? he said.

?They want to know where their daughter is, and they don't want her with this gentleman.?

A judge signed a felony warrant for Charles Berlinghoff's arrest at 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday ? six days after Jean went missing, Hubbard said.

He said all of the two sergeants and eight detectives in the sheriff's major crime unit are working on the case.

?Everybody is involved actively,? he said.

Heather Vega, 33, Jean's mother, said she is hopeful the warrant will make people realize the urgency of the situation.

?Now maybe they can actually find her,? she said.

Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, Jean's father, said he continues to distribute fliers around Redding about his daughter's disappearance.

Tuesday afternoon he was at a gas station off Oasis road passing out the fliers and said he planned to hit other places frequented by travelers.

?I'm not going to stop until she's home,? he said.

He said he's appreciative of the sheriff's office's efforts.

?I'm glad that they are continuing to pursue the investigation as aggressively as they can,? Jacob Berlinghoff said. ?Hopefully we get her home soon.?

The pair could be traveling in Charles Berlinghoff's car, a gray 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass with a California plate of 2DNX546.

Anyone with information about their whereabouts should call the sheriff's office at 245-6540.

---

Published with permission of the Redding Record-Searchlight, which originally published the story and sidebar.

Advisory, not Amber Alert

An ?endangered missing advisory? (EMA) has been sent to law enforcement agencies around the state, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said.An EMA is a step below an Amber Alert.

California Highway Patrol has not issued an Amber alert.

The EMA gives suspect and victim information to other law enforcement agencies and the media without the activation of highway reader boards that come with an Amber Alert, he said. Amber Alerts are notices to police and the media that rapidly publicize a child's disappearance throughout the state, or even nationwide.

The EMA for Charles Berlinghoff warns officers that he's made threats via e-mail toward law enforcement in the past. It describes Jean as 5 feet, 2 inches tall and 120 pounds with black hair and blue eyes. Charles Berlinghoff, who goes by ?Charlie,? is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 185 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

CHP Capt. Jerry Flavin said the CHP sticks to its strict guidelines when deciding whether to issue an Amber Alert and doesn't issue Amber Alerts lightly.

?If we overuse the Amber system, we are going to lose the Amber system,? Flavin said. ?It's not for runaways. It's meant for abductions.?

According to the CHP website, those guidelines are: the alert must only be activated by law enforcement agencies; it's intended only for the ?most serious, time-critical? child abduction cases; and it is not intended for ?cases involving runaways or parental abduction, except in life-threatening situations.?